Silent Hill

[Hypercop]

THIS IP needs to go to Public Domain. I'm sick of seeing Silent Hill never being itself. It's gone missing since 2004/2005 when Team Silent was disbanded in the middle of cooking up new cool sounding projects for the PS3 generation focusing on concepts like daylight horror and returning to the gameplay fans liked with less combat focus 4 had from feedback.

There's 2 things that make the core Silent Hill identity, which is the aesthetic and the trope of "What a person feels is manifested in real life".

The latter is now so common that it's universal to horror and even shows up in Resident Evil. Silent Hill is no longer unique for having this, and it even harms the series since it's getting increasingly hard to put a fresh spin on this premise.

The former is dead outside of a small circle of nerds who love and appreciate it. Silent Hill no longer has Lynchian influences, no more Jacob's Ladder or Francis Bacon or trip hop. There's nothing aesthetically interesting or cinematic about Silent Hill f from what we've seen. It looks like cheap j-horror, look at the sound waves that come out of the monster's mouth when he screams, or the immersion breaking HUD. I don't really consider this a Silent Hill game, it's just j-horror schlock with a high budget.

 

[The Cheese Aisle]

My take on this lore-wise

It's aesthetically/thematically dogshit

Gen Z has been put on a Soylent diet of nostalgia remakes since 2019. No actual next-gen on the horizon, just $70 memberberries.

I know right now I'm just blackpilled on mainstream gaming and Feeling Bad about my favorite game's corpse getting paraded out on a stick, and that there are a lot of great games coming out outside of the AAA space, but this whole nostalgia remake/remaster/reboot thing makes me wonder if looking back on the best games of 2020's it's just going to be old re-releases instead of a gaming era that has it's own unique identity.

 

[(NOT) A Flat Earther]

Silent Hill F is going to be 100% a let down, predictable jumpscares, forgettable monster designs, and surprise surprise, another cliché schoolgirl protagonist—like bro, seriously? Japan's packed with incredibly rich, twisted narratives and genuinely compelling characters that could crank the horror dial way past this generic stuff.


Imagine how much more impactful it could've been if they'd chosen a stressed-out businesswoman dealing with a cheating husband, confronting her personal nightmares as Silent Hill’s horrors twist her reality. Or maybe an exiled hostess, outcast from society, battling both supernatural and societal terrors. Picture a disgraced ex-Yakuza member tormented by manifestations of his past misdeeds, or even a hopelessly burnt-out cop spiraling down into madness as Silent Hill shatters any remaining illusions about justice.


But nah, instead we get stuck again with this tired, creepy schoolgirl trope. It honestly just feels lazy and uninspired, dragging something potentially revolutionary into yet another predictable anime-style narrative. A genuine shame and a huge missed chance to dive deep into authentically unsettling horror grounded in Japan’s genuinely darker, way more interesting corners. Feels like a 7/10 at absolute best. Silent Hill deserves way better.

 

[Star Classic]

At least Akira Yamaoka will drop some new stuff. Though the soundtrack for SH2R was a little disappointing.

 

[wholetthegodsout]

Silent Hill f looks just ok to me. I mean my biggest issue is have the devs made anything good in the past and how will the game tie into the broader Silent Hill mythos. If it doesn't nail the mythos part then it could be any generic horror game on Steam.

 

[Nameless One]

At least PT felt like a proper spin-off and was titled SILENT HILL(S) implying perhaps more mysteries than just the Lisa case. Maybe an investigation of these mass murder cases which ties into some fucked up Kojima style psyop.

 

[sneedem&feedem]

Why the fuck does F have a health and stamina bar along with dodge rolling.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

At least Akira Yamaoka will drop some new stuff. Though the soundtrack for SH2R was a little disappointing.

Be honest, can you name or remember any of the songs he made post-SH4? I can't.

At least PT felt like a proper spin-off and was titled SILENT HILL(S) implying perhaps more mysteries than just the Lisa case. Maybe an investigation of these mass murder cases which ties into some fucked up Kojima style psyop.

Did it? It was just a tech demo, yet a disproportionate amount of what people liked about it could actually be found first in SH4, both the perspective and murder mystery. Remove all of that and the Borley Haunted mansion-tier scares and what do you really have left? A Norman Reedus, and a quirky Kojima throwing weird shit at the wall to see what sticks, using imagery and themes already seen time and time again in both western and eastern horror. Actually, Koji's shit is worse because it can never be interpreted consistently, which means it's just psycho-horror gobbledygook for the sake of having weird quirky shit because "that's what Silent Hill does" apparently.

Why the fuck does F have a health and stamina bar along with dodge rolling.

Homecoming flashbacks.... "But Alex is a soldier so it makes sense!" Then it turns out he wasn't even a soldier and was just crazy.

BRAVO DOUBLE HELIX! EXPECTATIONS SUBVERTED! Can you believe just how long SH has been shit? For over 20 years...

 

[Nameless One]

It wasn't just a tech demo retard, pretty sure it was the whole ass game as far as Kojima himself knew given his time was coming to an end with TPP. The only similarities between PT and 4 are the visual inspirations (first person). But do continue! Coomer reddit faggots like you deserve dogshit games.


PT is slandered and drug through the mud by weird purists, while it's the only decent project to come from a team other than Team Silent. It's an experience people all shared together and it's more spooky than the dogshit that came before and after. It's no wonder why companies don't listen to fans anymore when I see shit like this.

 

[sneedem&feedem]

Artist Ronunu predicted the combat before the footage dropped. It's obvious in hindsight.

https://x.com/ronunununu/status/1933157256004358335

 

[Maniacal Foreigner]

Be honest, can you name or remember any of the songs he made post-SH4? I can't.

His two boss tracks for No More Heroes 2 were pretty good:

Also the album iFUTURELIST, a compilation of his beatmania contributions and some original material. A bit of a mixed bag in my opinion, but still interesting.

 

[Maker's Mark]

I'm tired of all these games relying on a parrying mechanic and trying to be a discount souls game. DOOM: The Dark Ages was the worst offender so far.